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kanna here! Welcome to Anime Mondays #3!
It was really, really, REALLY hard for me to come up with a good kid-friendly anime. Why? Because there are so many out there. If you watched one as a kid, you felt some kind of connection to the characters that made you think, "He/she is awesome!" If you watched one as an adult that you'd seen growing up, you were given this INCREDIBLE sense of nostalgia. If you watched one as an adult that you hadn't seen before and did not have kids at the time, you probably felt a similar connection to the characters. Something that made you connect with the characters.
So, naturally, having watched anime for nearly eight years (G-d I'm getting old; it's not like I just turned 20 last week), you can imagine how hard this was to choose.
Even so, I put a few titles that I was thinking of on my Facebook. And then, I slapped myself, because I couldn't believe I was being so stupid. I went with all these not too common titles when I could have gone for THE GOLD. So, hold onto your hats and strap on your duel disks! Get ready for one of the ultimate kids' anime series, because...it's time to duel!
Joey, Yugi's best friend, also experiences a lot of development. He goes from being someone who really wasn't good at Duel Monsters to a great duelist, an even better friend, and even gains a lot of respect from the people around him. He's good at fist fighting, although this quality was EXTREMELY downplayed in the English dub. Yeah...I'll get to the whole "dub vs. sub" thing in a bit. Anyway, he's not just a source of comic relief, even though he can be more than a little rash at times, and is actually pretty funny. He's caring, selfless, and considerate. However, he has a bit of a lack of modesty.
Seto Kaiba is the character I think most people either really like or just love to hate. Personally...I don't really know how I feel about him. Yeah. 224 episodes, a movie, and a number of years later, and I'm STILL not sure how I feel about Seto Kaiba. Anyway, he's the resident anti-hero of the series. He also has a younger brother, Mokuba. He's selfish, arrogant, more than a little egotistic, and a very no-nonsense kind of guy. Despite all that, though, he does have some ethics. He tends to help Yugi and his friends when it's in his best interest, or when he and Yugi are faced with a common enemy. He believes in hard work and determination and hates people who steal or cheat.
Yugi has two other friends, Tristan and Tea, who are two of the most USELESS characters I have ever seen. Tristan doesn't really do much of anything. He's mainly there for comic relief and...yeah, that's about it. He basically just moves the plot along. Even so, he's not as annoying as Tea. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER. Tea doesn't do much, either, except make friendship speeches. A lot. They're pretty long and more than a little annoying. Tristan moves the plot along a lot more than she does. Oh, and she's MAJORLY into the spirit of the puzzle. They imply that throughout the MAJORITY of the dub. It's actually sad and annoying.
And this part brings me to the whole "dub vs. sub" thing. This could go on for a bit, so brace yourselves.
Fans of Yu-Gi-Oh have argued for a long time over which was better: the original Japanese with English subtitles and nothing being toned down, or the English dub. The original Japanese had NO CUTS and NOTHING was toned down. At all. In fact, you'd never guess it was a kid's show if you saw the original Japanese. People are punching each other, killing each other, and lots of other things.
Remember what I said about how Joey enjoyed fighting? In the original Japanese, he could beat up people bigger than him. This was demonstrated in one episode when he fought against someone named Bandit Keith. In the English dub, this was MAJORLY downplayed, and Joey was the one who got beaten up by Bandit Keith.
Yeah. You'll NEVER GUESS who was in charge of the English dub for this series. I can tell you right now, it wasn't Viz or Funimation. It was...4KIDS!!! Everyone's favorite! To be fair, 4kids did give us a few good TV shows. They gave us Sonic X, One Piece (I think I'm part of a minority who didn't like One Piece, even when it got moved to Toonami), Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and a few others. But there are a lot of people who hate 4kids for dubbing, and I can see where those people are coming from.
Aside from the changes that 4kids made to the actual episodes, there were changes in the script and names of cards and characters. The translations of the card names actually carried over pretty well. The original "Black Magician" was changed to "Dark Magician" and the original "Dark Magician Girl" was known as "Black Magician Girl," to name a couple. However, the script changes...weren't so great. The dub gave Tea a ton of friendship speeches (ugh) and toned down A LOT of the dialog.
Which do I think is better? I don't think I'm the best person to answer that. I grew up with the dub, so that's what I would probably say. I saw the original Japanese a few years ago, and I liked that as well, so I can't really give an unbiased opinion. I've heard the some of the voice actors from the dub do lots of other work outside of Yu-Gi-Oh, and they're great. Dan Green, the voice of Yugi and the spirit of the puzzle, is a legend among American voice actors. I'm not sure if he's doing anything now. Last I heard, he had retired after his wife passed away. There is a chance he's back at work, but I'm honestly not sure.
Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh is one of the best anime series that I grew up with, and if you haven't seen it (which is probably fairly unlikely), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CHECK IT OUT! And if you can find any episodes of season zero, let me know!
It was really, really, REALLY hard for me to come up with a good kid-friendly anime. Why? Because there are so many out there. If you watched one as a kid, you felt some kind of connection to the characters that made you think, "He/she is awesome!" If you watched one as an adult that you'd seen growing up, you were given this INCREDIBLE sense of nostalgia. If you watched one as an adult that you hadn't seen before and did not have kids at the time, you probably felt a similar connection to the characters. Something that made you connect with the characters.
So, naturally, having watched anime for nearly eight years (G-d I'm getting old; it's not like I just turned 20 last week), you can imagine how hard this was to choose.
Even so, I put a few titles that I was thinking of on my Facebook. And then, I slapped myself, because I couldn't believe I was being so stupid. I went with all these not too common titles when I could have gone for THE GOLD. So, hold onto your hats and strap on your duel disks! Get ready for one of the ultimate kids' anime series, because...it's time to duel!
Where the crap am I supposed to begin with this AMAZING anime that people are never too old for? Background? The characters? The plot? G-d, there are so many great places to start from! But...context needs to be provided. So, here's a bit of context.
Yu-Gi-Oh! (yes, that exclamation mark is really part of the title) started out as a manga series about gaming written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It became a series in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine on September 30, 1996.
The manga was so popular that, naturally, an anime was going to be produced. However, this didn't just get one anime adaptation. IT GOT TWO. It also created a huge franchise that included a trading card game and video games. The idea behind the trading card game - which was heavily featured in the video games - is that players used cards to "duel" each other in a mock battle of fantasy "monsters."
One was produced by Toei Animation with the same name and aired from April 4, 1998 to October 10, 1998, and ran for 27 episodes. This anime was never aired outside of Japan, and even now, videos of it are incredibly hard to find. It has only been released on VHS in seven volumes and had no further rebroadcasts in Japanese anime stations. It's hard to find videos unless you want to watch bootlegs. This series, later to become known as "Yu-Gi-Oh Season Zero," was loosely based off of the first seven volumes of the manga. The series went for twenty-seven episodes and also got a short movie, which, like the series, was never aired outside Japan or rebroadcast. It was pretty dark, even with elements from the manga toned down.
Moving on.
The other anime adaptation was produced by Nihon Ad Systems and originally titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan. It was only known as Yu-Gi-Oh in other countries. It aired from April 18, 2000 to September 29, 2004 in Japan and from September 29, 2001 to June 10, 2006 in the United States, running for 224 episodes.
The
general gist of the whole story is that it revolves around a boy
named Yugi who is a freshman in high school (but he really doesn't look
like it). He receives a present from his grandfather, an archaeologist,
called the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi solves it after eight years, and
unknowingly awakened the spirit of the pharaoh inside of it. The spirit
inhabited
Yugi's body and Yugi's life was changed forever. The spirit solves
Yugi's conflicts using card games (and other...fairly dark methods if you've seen season zero).
Yugi, our protagonist, probably experiences the most character development out of all the characters. I'm not saying that because he was the protagonist. Okay, that's partially it. But I'm also saying it because Yugi experienced the most growth out of the characters. He went from being a scrawny, bullied kid who played games all by himself to a kid who had friends, saved the world a few times, and gained a rival or two along the way.
Joey, Yugi's best friend, also experiences a lot of development. He goes from being someone who really wasn't good at Duel Monsters to a great duelist, an even better friend, and even gains a lot of respect from the people around him. He's good at fist fighting, although this quality was EXTREMELY downplayed in the English dub. Yeah...I'll get to the whole "dub vs. sub" thing in a bit. Anyway, he's not just a source of comic relief, even though he can be more than a little rash at times, and is actually pretty funny. He's caring, selfless, and considerate. However, he has a bit of a lack of modesty.
Seto Kaiba is the character I think most people either really like or just love to hate. Personally...I don't really know how I feel about him. Yeah. 224 episodes, a movie, and a number of years later, and I'm STILL not sure how I feel about Seto Kaiba. Anyway, he's the resident anti-hero of the series. He also has a younger brother, Mokuba. He's selfish, arrogant, more than a little egotistic, and a very no-nonsense kind of guy. Despite all that, though, he does have some ethics. He tends to help Yugi and his friends when it's in his best interest, or when he and Yugi are faced with a common enemy. He believes in hard work and determination and hates people who steal or cheat.
Yugi has two other friends, Tristan and Tea, who are two of the most USELESS characters I have ever seen. Tristan doesn't really do much of anything. He's mainly there for comic relief and...yeah, that's about it. He basically just moves the plot along. Even so, he's not as annoying as Tea. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER. Tea doesn't do much, either, except make friendship speeches. A lot. They're pretty long and more than a little annoying. Tristan moves the plot along a lot more than she does. Oh, and she's MAJORLY into the spirit of the puzzle. They imply that throughout the MAJORITY of the dub. It's actually sad and annoying.
And this part brings me to the whole "dub vs. sub" thing. This could go on for a bit, so brace yourselves.
Fans of Yu-Gi-Oh have argued for a long time over which was better: the original Japanese with English subtitles and nothing being toned down, or the English dub. The original Japanese had NO CUTS and NOTHING was toned down. At all. In fact, you'd never guess it was a kid's show if you saw the original Japanese. People are punching each other, killing each other, and lots of other things.
Remember what I said about how Joey enjoyed fighting? In the original Japanese, he could beat up people bigger than him. This was demonstrated in one episode when he fought against someone named Bandit Keith. In the English dub, this was MAJORLY downplayed, and Joey was the one who got beaten up by Bandit Keith.
Yeah. You'll NEVER GUESS who was in charge of the English dub for this series. I can tell you right now, it wasn't Viz or Funimation. It was...4KIDS!!! Everyone's favorite! To be fair, 4kids did give us a few good TV shows. They gave us Sonic X, One Piece (I think I'm part of a minority who didn't like One Piece, even when it got moved to Toonami), Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and a few others. But there are a lot of people who hate 4kids for dubbing, and I can see where those people are coming from.
Aside from the changes that 4kids made to the actual episodes, there were changes in the script and names of cards and characters. The translations of the card names actually carried over pretty well. The original "Black Magician" was changed to "Dark Magician" and the original "Dark Magician Girl" was known as "Black Magician Girl," to name a couple. However, the script changes...weren't so great. The dub gave Tea a ton of friendship speeches (ugh) and toned down A LOT of the dialog.
Which do I think is better? I don't think I'm the best person to answer that. I grew up with the dub, so that's what I would probably say. I saw the original Japanese a few years ago, and I liked that as well, so I can't really give an unbiased opinion. I've heard the some of the voice actors from the dub do lots of other work outside of Yu-Gi-Oh, and they're great. Dan Green, the voice of Yugi and the spirit of the puzzle, is a legend among American voice actors. I'm not sure if he's doing anything now. Last I heard, he had retired after his wife passed away. There is a chance he's back at work, but I'm honestly not sure.
Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh is one of the best anime series that I grew up with, and if you haven't seen it (which is probably fairly unlikely), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CHECK IT OUT! And if you can find any episodes of season zero, let me know!
Hey guys! Kanna here!
It's time for another new word today. The word of the day is otome game. This literally means "girl game," and is targeted towards a female market. A typical otome game has two goals; one of which is to develop a relationship between the female protagonist and one of several male (or occasionally female) characters. It's a pretty common genre in Japan and is primarily made up of visual novels and simulation games (dating sims in particular). Numerous English translations of these games have made their way into the English-speaking market and can be found on the iOS App Store, the Google Play Store, and different gaming platforms like the PSP, PS Vita, and the Nintendo 3DS.
So, why do I bring up a new word? Because today's anime was based on an otome game. Now, as most of you have probably guessed, I don't watch a ton of girly anime. I've seen a few girly series, but a good amount of them weren't very good. There was one series that managed to stick out for me, and that series is...Uta no Prince-sama.
OK, I may have forgotten to mention a couple of things. The first being that the title is in Japanese (if you didn't already figure that out) and literally translates out to "Princes of Song" in English. The second thing I forgot to mention is the rest of the title. The anime has two seasons, with a third premiering in April of next year. The first season is called Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love 1000%, and the second season was called Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love 2000%. The third season has been confirmed as Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love Revolutions.
The genre of anime that this would fall under would be known as reverse harem. Why. Because the shortest possible definition I can give you is this: a reverse harem anime has a female lead and lots of guys.
Lots. Of. Really. Good. Looking. Guys.
In Uta no Prince-sama, or UtaPri for short, we go from six leads to seven in two seasons. Not to Mention the other cute guys in Quartet Night and HEAVENS and...
I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought for sure that I'd be able to get through this anime without gushing over how unbelievably HOT some of the guys in it are. I'm going to do my best to do just that.
-deep breath-
OK. Let's talk about the plot.
The female lead of this series is Haruka Nanami, a girl who wants to attend Saotome Academy so she can become a composer. Saotome Academy is a music school where students can choose to take courses on becoming idols or composers. She manages to get in so she can take the entrance exam after meeting the first two of our male leads, Otoya Ittoki and Ren Jinguji. Throughout the series, she meets Masato Hijirikawa, Natsuki Shinomiya, Syo Kurusu, and Tokiya Ichinose, who will later go on to form the boy band, STARISH. Oh, and there's one catch about the school: NO ROMANCE ALLOWED.
And that's only the first season!
The second season sees the six members of STARISH and Haruka now full-fledged idols and composers. They are now members of Shining Agency's Master Course and are striving to win the UtaPri (teehee, the pun...because the series is called UtaPri for short) award, but a new person enters their midst. Enter Cecil Aijima, prince of Agnapolis, a far off country to the west. He tells Haruka right off the bat that he loves her, which is a big no-no in the world of idols. However, Cecil has no interest in being an idol, and only wishes to sing songs composed by Haruka. This season is where we meet the boys of Quartet Night and the relationships between Haruka and the members of STARISH begin to intensify.
This series is driven mainly by the guys. It's not that Haruka isn't important, but in an otome game, the person typically plays as the girl (or guy in some cases), so everything is up to the person who is playing as the girl (or guy in some cases).
The interesting thing here is that not only do the idols all play different instruments, but they all have their own distinctive musical styles for their character songs.
Anyway, let's talk about our INCREDIBLY awesome guys!
NOTE 1: Because I don't generally categorize my music by genre, some of these descriptions may be a little off. I know what genres like rock n' roll and country sound like, but that doesn't mean that what I think of as country music necessarily is country music.
NOTE 2: Some of the titles of the songs are in English, while others are in Japanese. To make this easier for my readers, I'm using the English translations of the Japanese. So the songs with English titles will be in ALL CAPS (like that) while the English translations of the Japanese song titles will be in normal font.
NOTE 3: THESE ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER WHATSOEVER. Also, I'm only doing the members of STARISH. No Quartet Night or HEAVENS.
Ittoki Otoya: He's probably the nicest out of the guys and very down-to-earth. He's energetic, but also gentle. His songs give other people strength and is nice to pretty much everyone, regardless of who they may be, and loves music more than anything. He plays the guitar. His musical style would have to be described as some kind of rock. I can't quite pinpoint it. His character song in Maji Love 1000% is "BRAND NEW MELODY," and in Maji Love 2000%, it's "SMILE MAGIC."
Ren Jinguji: He's a player. Need I say more? That pretty much sums up his character. He has a pretty laid back personality. His songs light up people's hearts, and he plays the saxophone. As for his musical style...I'd say it's something you'd hear at a jazz club. So...that would probably fall under smooth jazz, right? His character song in Maji Love 1000% is "BELIEVE HEART to the End of the World" and in Maji Love 2000%, it's "ORANGE RHAPSODY."
Masato Hijirikawa: The calm, cool, and collected one of the group. He's super serious and a master at calligraphy. He plays the piano and his musical style would probably be power ballads. Although, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I'd use the word "power" to describe his character song in Maji Love 1000%, "KNOCKING ON THE MIND." The word would definitely be used to describe his character song in Maji Love 2000%, "Cherry Blossoms of Love," though.
Natsuki Shinomiya: The one with an excessive fondness for things that are small and cute. Haruka reminded him of his dog in the first season, and a cherry blossom fairy in the second season (just go with it, because I don't get it, either). He can be fairly light-headed and naive at times. He also has a split personality problem called "Gemini Syndrome," and that personality is known as Satsuki. Satsuki is basically the dark side of Natsuki. Natsuki plays the viola, and his musical style is...well, I can't really describe it. It's interesting, because the writers gave Natsuki two musical styles; one for each of his personalities. In Maji Love 1000%, his character song is "Shout Out to ORION," and in Maji Love 2000%, it's "Promise to SIRIUS."
Syo Kurusu: Before you correct me, YES, that is really how he spells his name. It's spelled Syo, but pronounced "Shou." I don't know who came up with that, how they came up with it, or why. Anyway, Syo is the energetic and upbeat member of the group. He can be hotheaded at times, but he's fairly defensive when he's teased about his height. Yeah, he's also the shortest member of the group. He hates the word "cute." He plays the violin, and his musical style would probably be described as hard rock. Not necessarily metal. Again, a little hard to describe, but I'm going with my best guess. His character song in Maji Love 1000% is "Full Throttle Chivalrous Spirit! LET'S GO! FIGHT!". In Maji Love 2000%, his character song is "TRUE WING."
Tokiya Ichinose: The brooding loner of the group. Of course, he starts out that way, but he does warm up to the others after about...well, the majority of the first season, actually. He's a bit of a perfectionist and gets annoyed fairly easily. But when he does warm up to the others...well...he really isn't that different from before. He's nicer and willing to work with others, and his personality has gotten a bit warmer, too. He still has a bit of that harsh demeanor from time to time, though. He sings and his musical style is...I'd have to say it's a mix of pop and ballads. So...that would probably be pop ballads, right? His character song in Maji Love 1000% is "Seven-Colored COMPASS," and in Maji Love 2000%, it's "CRYSTAL TIME."
Cecil Aijima: He used to be a cat. But he got better. Anyway, he's the cheeky one who later pulls himself together in the end. He's also the newest to being an idol, so because he didn't know love was forbidden, he kinda-sorta-actually confessed his love for Haruka right off the bat. He's also the prince of Agnapolis, a fictional country that actually has its own language. I kid you not. The writers actually made up a bunch of words and stuck them together into coherent-ish phrases. If you listen to the insert song he gets in the second episode of Maji Love 2000%, "REINCARNATION of Love," the beginning part isn't in English or Japanese. It sounds like a combination of German and Spanish, and I have to give his voice actor TONS of credit for using this non-existent language. Anyway, Cecil plays the flute, and his musical style is...well, I can't really describe it. Love songs, maybe? Yeah, let's just go with that. Anyway, his character song in Maji Love 1000% is "Eternity Love," and in Maji Love 2000%, it's "FANTASIA of the Stars."
And those are the lead guys! So, rating? I give this...3000%!
OK, they didn't call the third season Maji Love 3000%, and I can understand why. It would have been Maji Love san-sen (3000) Percent in Japanese and that doesn't sound quite right. Therefore, I take full liberty of using 3000%. What I'm trying to say is...I give this 10/10! The characters are great, and the fact that the female lead is so naive about these SEVEN GUYS being into her is actually kind of adorable. What's just as adorable is that the guys get so close to confessing their feelings to her, but they either end up saying how much they like her songs, or something/someone gets in the way. The music is great and the character development is done amazingly well.
Girls: WATCH THIS. Seriously. It's beyond cheesy, but that's part of what makes it so great. Not to mention there are guys. Lots of them. About fourteen of them so far, and that's only from TWO SEASONS. Oh, and have I mentioned that these guys can SING? I mean, their voices are just...wow. AMAZING.
Guys: Check it out, and if you like it, keep watching. Male fans of UtaPri are pretty rare If you hate it, at least give the music a chance. It's pretty awesome.
Well, that's it for now! Stay tuned for the kid-friendly anime! I won't say what it is, but I will tell you it's sure to send you down a fairly nostalgic road!
Kanna here! Welcome to Anime Saturday! This should be Anime
Monday, but because I had an amount of homework and tests I didn’t see coming
this week, I ended up putting this off until Halloween. However, that Friday, I
was so tired that even though I had the majority of this written and just going
through the editing stages, I was too tired to think straight and just said,
“Screw it, I’m putting this up on Saturday.”
Like I said, this was originally going to be for Monday and
then saved for Halloween. I wanted to review a creepy anime for Halloween. So,
without further ado…
 |
| Note that this is the cover of the game, not the poster for the anime. Do a search for that on your own. I couldn't find a poster for the anime. |
Higurashi no Naku Koro
ni, When the Cicadas Cry, or When
They Cry is a murder mystery self-published sound novel that was later
adapted into an anime that aired in Japan between April 4 and September 26,
2006. Now, you’re probably asking me what a sound novel is.
Well, the proper term is visual novel. A visual novel uses
the narrative style of literature in a digital format that could be considered
as a video game, which is what the Higurashi
series originally was; a series of video games. However, Higurashi is referred to as a sound novel, because while the art
appears to be lacking and relatively simple, there is a large variety of sound
effects and music used to set the atmosphere for the reader.
So there’s your info on a sound novel. So, what is the
anime, Higurashi, about?
Well, to be perfectly honest…it’s a little hard to say. I’ll
talk about why in a bit. For now, here’s a little background.
The story takes place during June 1983 in a fictional
village called Hinamizawa. It’s a relatively small village with a population of
approximately 2,000 people. This is usually the part of the review where I go
over the characters. However, going over the characters would also require
going into the story in very fine detail. However, Higurashi has a story that makes little to no sense. Not because
it’s not well written – which it is – but because it’s…well…hard to follow.
Our main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and
becomes friends with Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou.
Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which typically consist of
card and board games, along with punishment games for the loser.
Hinamizawa appears to be a relatively normal and peaceful
town. However, this normalcy and peacefulness comes to an abrupt end after the
annual Cotton Drifting Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks
to the village’s god, Oyashiro. Keiichi learns that every year for the past
four years, one person has been murdered and another has gone missing on the
evening of the Festival. In each of the story arcs, Keiichi or one of his
friends becomes paranoid and a crime is committed. The crime typically involves
the murder of one of Keiichi’s own friends, and it’s pretty hard to tell the
delusions of the characters apart from the mystery of Hinamizawa, even though
the truth is s…l…o…w…l…y revealed. I spaced slowly out like that, because
that’s how it’s revealed.
R E A L L Y S L O W L Y
R E A L L Y S L O W L Y
And this is where things get confusing. I know it’s going to
sound like I’m spoiling the whole anime when I get to what I’m about to say
next, but I’m not giving away the ending to the overall series, so it’s okay.
No spoiler alerts.
Like the games, the anime has A TON of story arcs, which
change every couple of episodes. Now, I’m not talking about shows like Inuyasha, which has different arcs that
all connect to one storyline and don’t constantly change. Inuyasha’s story arcs all flow in the same direction and don’t
cause too much of a shift in the overall plot. It’s easy to follow and doesn’t
cause a ton of confusion.
Higurashi, on the
other hand, had multiple arcs that all were connected to one storyline, but it was difficult to see just where it was headed. The arcs were separated into chapters, which changed every
couple of episodes. At the end of the fourth episode, which was the end of the
first chapter, three of the five main characters get killed off: Keiichi, Rena,
and Mion. Keiichi was driven paranoid by the idea that Rena and Mion were
trying to kill him, so he killed them, and then himself. Now, you would think
that these characters would…well, stay dead.
WRONG
Who do we see return in the next episode? Why, it’s Keiichi,
Rena, and Mion! They’re all alive, well, and on considerably good terms with
each other! It’s like the events of the previous episode never occurred! And
this is what makes the story very hard to follow. Each arc of the story follows
a various plot, and it’s not until MUCH LATER in the series where everything
starts to come together.
In Inuyasha, while
there were different arcs, we didn’t have to wait until the end for everything to be explained. Everything
was tied in to the general goals of the characters: collect the jewel shards
and defeat Naraku. Look at the Band of Seven arc, for example. The author and
artist of the manga of Inuyasha,
Rumiko Takahashi, did an incredible job tying in the storyline of seven
mercenaries who died ten years before the story was set and then having them
resurrected to the setting of the story so that they could kill off the main
characters for Naraku. That was a storyline that people were able to follow as
well as tie in to the general premise of the show. There weren’t any loose ends
that needed to be tied up.
In Higurashi,
however, the problem is that NOTHING is explained until the end of the second
season. Not the first season. Apparently, Higurashi
was so popular, that more seasons got produced, and we wound up with a total of
six seasons, which wrapped the entire series up on August 15, 2013.
I know this is starting to sound like a compare/contrast
between Higurashi and Inuyasha, and given that Inuyasha is my all-time favorite anime
(and my first ever anime, excluding anything Miyazaki) this is making me sound
biased, but…I really can’t think of anything else to compare it to.
OK, that’s not entirely true. I can think of other things to
compare it to. The problem is, however, is that out of my top five favorite
anime, with Inuyasha holding the #1
spot, Inuyasha does a better job of
tying all of its sub-plots and extra storylines together than Higurashi does.
Anyway, the general idea behind Higurashi is more…historical. The story is set in a town where
people are not allowed to leave without fear of going paranoid and dying.
Sounds like a great place! Move there and bring the kids!
It’s like the Hotel California!
“You can check out anytime you like…but you can never
leave~”
-“Hotel California” by The Eagles
OK, in all fairness, this town is entirely fictional and
actually based on the village of Shirakawa, Gifu. I’ve never been to Japan, but
I’ve looked up pictures of Shirakawa, Gifu, and it looks pretty nice.
Moving on.
The village of Hinamizawa was founded during ancient times,
and was unknowingly located near a swamp that contained a parasite, which
caused paranoia and eventual madness. The villagers interpreted this to be the
cause of demonic possession, and as such, created laws that stated it was taboo
to leave the village. The villagers went further to enshrine their laws as the
laws of a local deity, Oyashiro, and the punishment turned into death by
torture while the village became paranoid of being wiped out if too many
“demons” left the village. The shrine maidens, who produced a type of energy,
held the disease in check.
As the years went by, the village customs faded. The
disease, which came to be known as Hinamizawa Syndrome, was deliberately
released in 1983. And how did people die from the disease if they never left
the town?
Well…I’m really not sure if you want me to go into that. I’m
not even sure if I want to go into
that. It’s not pretty. I mean; I’ve seen some pretty bloody and gory death
scenes before. I’m not a squeamish person. I don’t mind seeing blood and guts
in TV or movies because I know that the actors are all OK in the end. But the
way that Hinamizawa Syndrome killed off of its victims sent shivers down my
spine. I couldn’t help but look at what I was watching in pure horror. It’s
that bad.
Overall: Higurashi
has to be one of the bloodiest, goriest, creepiest, and most confusing anime
series I have ever seen in my entire life. Given that I’m almost twenty and got
into watching anime when I was about twelve (holy crap, I’ve been watching this
stuff for NEARLY EIGHT YEARS), I’m not sure if that’s saying much. However,
despite how confusing it is, the series is INCREDIBLY well written and always
keeps you guessing and wondering what’s going to happen next. You want to
figure out just what it is that ties everything together. And the music is pretty
nice, too. The character designs are AMAZING, the storyline – albeit confusing –
is amazing, and the majority of the characters are amazing. The anime in
general is…well…AMAZING!
The one problem I have with this series is a fairly minor
one. What is it? Well, I’m pretty sure that everyone who has seen Higurashi has asked this question at
least once. That question being: WHY CAN’T THE CHARACTERS SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS
LIKE NORMAL HUMAN BEINGS?
Whenever a problem comes up, instead of just talking it out,
the characters become super violent and start killing off their problems.
THESE. ARE. KIDS. Either the parents in this show are some of the worst parents
around, or the kids just have some seriously messed up psyches and need to see
a doctor. DESPARATELY. You could do a DEATH COUNT of how many characters have
been killed off or how many times characters have been killed off.
Overall, this horrific anime is a hands-down ten out of ten.
Just don’t show it to anyone who can’t handle blood and guts. Trust me on that
one.
Bye for now! Look forward to the next Anime Monday (which
won’t be this week; sorry, guys), which will hopefully be a video!
~k
One more thing: Blogger is fairly limited in customization,
and I’m thinking about switching platforms. I’m open to suggestions, but
whatever you suggest HAS TO BE FREE. I’m not saying it needs to have a 30-day-free-trial
or whatever. No, this needs to be free 24/7 (unless the people who made the
platform somehow decide that they want people writing content on their site to
pay x amount of money per month/year while I’m on that site).
Well, guys, this is it. The one you've all been waiting for:
2. Quicksilver. Don't get me wrong, I freaking loved Quicksilver. He was the most entertaining new mutant in the movie, and they really should have given him more to do (although I understand why they didn't). My problem is how they refer to him in the movie. In the comics and the cartoon, his name was Pietro. In this movie, however, they named him Peter. I don't understand why. Was it to make him more American-ized? Who knows. In the comics, Quicksilver and his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch (Wanda), were born in Transia (a fictional European country). I'm just saying that I don't get why they changed it, because I haven't come across anyone with a problem in pronouncing Quicksilver's name from the cartoon or the comics. It's fine that they changed it from Pietro to Peter. I just wish I knew why they did.
There is another issue I have with regards to Quicksilver, and while I'm sure that most comic book fans and fans of the cartoon will agree with me on it and will know what I'm talking about without me having to mention it, I have a feeling that most of the people reading this have either not seen Days of Future Past, the X-Men cartoon, or read the comics. This issue isn't super important and won't spoil anything, but I'd rather have people comment here saying that they're curious if they don't know or that they want me to spoil it for them. So, let's move on to the last problem.
3. If you haven't seen First Class, GO AND SEE IT. READ NO FURTHER. Okay, I'm actually kidding about that. You can read on, as the point I'm about to explain won't really spoil anything in First Class. Anyway, in X-Men: First Class, Hugh Jackman makes an uncredited cameo as Wolverine in a scene where Charles and Erik try to recruit him. After Charles and Erik introduce themselves, we get the best scene in all of First Class.
In Days of Future Past, this cameo is referenced. Just not properly. In Days of Future Past, the 1973 Charles Xavier tells Wolverine to "f*ck off." I get that Charles was drunk out of his mind, but if they wanted to give that cameo proper credit, they could have at least gotten the line right.
Well, that's it for my X-Men review series! I hope you enjoyed yourselves, because I know I enjoyed writing these for you! Days of Future Past was THE BEST X-MEN MOVIE BY FAR. If you saw First Class and didn't think anything could top it, you would be seriously wrong. I think that the only other X-Men movie that could potentially top this movie is Apocalypse. However, we won't get to find out if Apocalypse will top Days of Future Past for two more years. I hate waiting. But some of the actors did sign on for FOUR MORE MOVIES. What will they be called? What's going to happen? We'll have to wait and see.
Get ready for my next review! It might be a video review! Signing off for now! ~k
PS: Crud. I went through the review and made references to Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, AND Les Miserables. Well, because I can't possibly pile the references on anymore, please enjoy this parody of "Who Am I" from Les Miserables sung by Hugh Jackman.
This movie was just...it was...good G-d, words can't even describe the AWESOMENESS of this movie. So, instead of me going all insane about how AMAZING this movie is, let's get going!
We have AN INCREDIBLE CAST. Yeah. Tons of new additions, even though most of them don't really get a ton of lines. We have Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, Booboo Stewart, Evan Peters, Fan Bingbing (note that in Chinese, the last name comes before the first name, so her name in English would be Bingbing Fan. I'll be referring to her as Fan Bingbing for the review, though), Adan Canto, Josh Helman, Evan Jonigkeit, Michael Lerner, Gregg Lowe, and Mark Camancho. Note that these are new additions to the X-Men film franchise. We get actors from the X-Men trilogy and from X-Men: First Class in this movie, so I'm not mentioning them. Did I mention that there are cameos galore in this? No? Well, there are. Let's get going with the review!
Our movie opens up with a classic Patrick Stewart narration that sounds like it came straight out of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Now, before you all start glaring at this post, I would like to point out that I DID NOT make one Star Trek reference in my post for The Last Stand. You should be proud of me. Especially because this one will probably be filled to the brim with references to Star Trek, Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit, and Les Miserables. You have been warned.
Anywho, how can this narration NOT sound like it came out of Star Trek? When you have Patrick Stewart saying something like this:
"The future. A dark, desolate world. A world of war, suffering, loss on both sides. Mutants and the humans who dared to help them, fighting an enemy we cannot defeat. Are we destined down this path? Destined to destroy ourselves like so many species before us? Or can we evolve fast enough to change ourselves, change our fate? Is the future truly set?"
Over a scene of mutants and humans gathered by a giant robot army to be killed, followed by a scene of a young mutant walking through piles of dirt and carcasses before kneeling down and brushing dirt off an object and then getting captured and likely killed, then you either haven't seen Star Trek: The Next Generation or just don't know what an epic narration would sound like.
We then hear some SERIOUSLY awesome music while the title sequence comes up. Now, I would say that the title sequence drags on for a little too long, but the music is seriously awesome, and even the title sequence is incredible to watch. The music was downright amazing throughout the entire movie, and I still can't believe I haven't ordered the soundtrack yet. Of course, you wouldn't expect any less amazing music from John Ottman.
Wait...who? Who is this guy? I know a lot of Johns in the music industry (not personally), and I've never heard of this guy. Who is he? What did he compose for? Well, let's go on Google and find out.
*one Google search later*
Holy frick. I feel like a total idiot. John Ottman is best known for his work with BRYAN SINGER. John Ottman did the music for X2, both Fantastic Four movies (Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), Valkyrie, Orphan, Unknown, Jack the Giant Slayer, and so many other movies (note that most of the movies just mentioned were not Bryan Singer movies).
Anyway, after that incredible opening, we cut to Moscow, Russia, where we see Warpath (Booboo Stewart), a mutant with superhuman senses, near invulnerability, super strength, and super speed. He spots a bunch of pods carrying these giant robots and runs back inside to warn fellow mutant, Blink (Fan Bingbing), a mutant who can create portals to teleport from place to place. Warpath and Blink join newcomers Sunspot (Adan Canto) and Bishop (Omar Sy), while we see the returns of Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Shadowcat (Ellen Page), and Iceman (Shawn Ashmore).
We learn that these giant robots are called Sentinels and are out to find and kill mutants. Blink, Warpath, Sunspot, and Iceman stick around to fight off the Sentinels while Shadowcat and Bishop run into a vault using Shadowcat's powers to phase through solid objects. Upon arrival at the vault, the other mutants are killed by the Sentinels, but they arrive too late to kill Shadowcat and Bishop, because Shadowcat's powers also include sending a person's conscious back in time and alter history.
Now that history has been altered, the mutants who were killed off when Shadowcat sent Bishop back in time are now alive (yay). We see Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Storm (Halle Berry), and Jean Valjean with claws, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), unite with Shadowcat and the other mutants. I was really hoping I could get through this without a Les Miserables reference. Especially because it was the movie. Well, let's see if I can get through this without a Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit reference.
Shadowcat explains her power to send people's conscience back in time, and Professor X explains how he grew up with Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), as well as the creation of the Sentinels, a bunch of robots created by a doctor named Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) in the early 70's. Trask covertly experimented on mutants and used their gifts to fuel his own research. Mystique found out what he was doing and killed him. However, this assassination only succeeded in persuading the government of the need for his program. Through Mystique's DNA, the Sentinels gained the ability to adapt to any mutant's power and then use it against them.
Professor X wants to go back in time to his younger body and use his relationship with Mystique to stop the assassination. However, Shadowcat's powers can only send someone back so far, and to send someone back decades would rip the mind apart. Wolverine volunteers to go instead because of his healing factor, and it's here where we get the biggest change from the comics.
In the comics, it wasn't Wolverine or Professor X who went back in time. It was Shadowcat. It probably would have made for a very interesting movie if Shadowcat had gone back and the movie's writers stuck to the comics, but let's look at it logically. The events of the movie start in the year 2023, and then we time travel to 1973. Shadowcat didn't even exist in 1973. If she went back, she would have been around -20 years old.
Anyway, Storm and the other mutants go outside to stand guard, while Professor X, Magneto, and Iceman stick around to here Shadowcat prep Wolverine on what will happen when he goes back in time. We then get a couple bits from Magneto that makes you want to remind yourself that you're watching X-Men and not Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. The bits are kind of scattered about, so wherever there's a break, you'll be seeing a "..." in the dialog. Anyway, here are the bits:
"And end this war before it ever begins. ...It's going to take the two of us, side by side at a time when we couldn't be further apart."
When Wolverine goes back in time, he meets Beast (Nicholas Hoult) in a pretty entertaining scene that involves Beast THROWING Wolverine across the mansion. It really shouldn't have been that funny, but the idea of Beast throwing Wolverine was just hilarious.
Anyway, we also get introduced to the 1973 Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) who doesn't really look like the Charles Xavier from 1962. Okay, granted, it's been eleven years and he's not quite at the Patrick Stewart level of aging (you know, where twenty years or so pass by and you still look exactly the same), but unlike the picture below, he looks drunk, disheveled, and just horrible. He looks a little better than he did at the beginning of the movie in the picture below, but that's beside the point.
 |
| 1973 Charles Xavier |
Anyway, Wolverine tells his unbelievable story of how he came from the future and that they also need Magneto's (Michael Fassbender) help. Wolverine also learns that not only can Charles walk, but he also doesn't have his powers thanks to a serum that Beast made which suppressed mutations and gave Charles his legs back. At first, Charles doesn't believe Wolverine, but then has a change of heart. We learn that Magneto is imprisoned in the Pentagon for the assassination of then-President John F. Kennedy, and there's only one mutant who can help get Beast, Charles, and Wolverine in: Quicksilver (Evan Peters). They recruit Quicksilver in another entertaining scene, break Magneto out of the Pentagon, and the hunt for Mystique begins.
THIS MOVIE IS AMAZING. Granted, there are a few continuity problems, but so many people have addressed those already, so I'm not going to bother with it. There are a few problems aside from continuity, but it goes without saying that this movie gets a PERFECT SCORE OF 10 OUT OF 10.
Why 10 out of 10: This movie is just amazing. The music is incredible, the acting is incredible, and the way that some of these scenes were written was just amazing. Pulling together an ensemble cast isn't always easy, but this movie managed to pull it off.
Quicksilver stole the show during his scenes and it took my attention away from Charles, Erik, Wolverine, and Beast. The way they filmed the scene where they showed Quicksilver's power was incredible, and the fact that they played "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce during that scene kept me laughing so hard throughout the entire bit. Also, Quicksilver was wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt from the "Dark Side of the Moon" album era. Great fashion choice!
It was a smart move to send Wolverine back instead of Shadowcat, and while it did provide for more work on the part of the writers, it also allowed for some fairly interesting twists that the writers used to their fullest extent.
We got to see some new mutants, and there were cameos galore in the movie. We can't forget about that scene after the credits that I kinda-sorta made my friends stay for when we saw the movie in the theater. I mean, come on! That's a teaser for X-Men: Apocalypse, which comes out...May 27, 2016. Thanks for making us wait, Bryan Singer. This better be worth it (oh, who am I kidding; it's definitely going to be worth the wait).
The problems I had with this movie are super small, and are more things that are based off of my opinion, rather than things that were actually wrong with the movie. I know I go on about them for a bit, but it's so that people can understand my opinion:
1. Fan Bingbing is a SERIOUSLY talented actress. I doubt most people reading this have any idea who she is, though, because she's not that well-known in America (or most English-speaking countries, for that matter). She's a pretty well-known actress in China; particularly for her work in the Chinese drama, Princess Pearl. I don't have a problem with her at all. My problem is more in regards to how the writers wrote Blink. In the movie, Fan Bingbing only got ONE LINE, and it consisted of TWO WORDS. I get that English isn't her first language. However, in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama, a Japanese actress who doesn't have English for her first language) had a few more lines than Blink did, and she had FIVE English words. The least that the writers could have done was have some of Fan Bingbing's dialog be in Chinese (considering one of the scenes took place in China) and just edit English subtitles in, or just teach Fan Bingbing more English. But they only gave her the one line. I just felt like she could have done more instead of just having the one line, fight scenes, and just standing around.
There is another issue I have with regards to Quicksilver, and while I'm sure that most comic book fans and fans of the cartoon will agree with me on it and will know what I'm talking about without me having to mention it, I have a feeling that most of the people reading this have either not seen Days of Future Past, the X-Men cartoon, or read the comics. This issue isn't super important and won't spoil anything, but I'd rather have people comment here saying that they're curious if they don't know or that they want me to spoil it for them. So, let's move on to the last problem.
3. If you haven't seen First Class, GO AND SEE IT. READ NO FURTHER. Okay, I'm actually kidding about that. You can read on, as the point I'm about to explain won't really spoil anything in First Class. Anyway, in X-Men: First Class, Hugh Jackman makes an uncredited cameo as Wolverine in a scene where Charles and Erik try to recruit him. After Charles and Erik introduce themselves, we get the best scene in all of First Class.
In Days of Future Past, this cameo is referenced. Just not properly. In Days of Future Past, the 1973 Charles Xavier tells Wolverine to "f*ck off." I get that Charles was drunk out of his mind, but if they wanted to give that cameo proper credit, they could have at least gotten the line right.
Well, that's it for my X-Men review series! I hope you enjoyed yourselves, because I know I enjoyed writing these for you! Days of Future Past was THE BEST X-MEN MOVIE BY FAR. If you saw First Class and didn't think anything could top it, you would be seriously wrong. I think that the only other X-Men movie that could potentially top this movie is Apocalypse. However, we won't get to find out if Apocalypse will top Days of Future Past for two more years. I hate waiting. But some of the actors did sign on for FOUR MORE MOVIES. What will they be called? What's going to happen? We'll have to wait and see.
Get ready for my next review! It might be a video review! Signing off for now! ~k
PS: Crud. I went through the review and made references to Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, AND Les Miserables. Well, because I can't possibly pile the references on anymore, please enjoy this parody of "Who Am I" from Les Miserables sung by Hugh Jackman.
Hi guys. Kanna here. Well…this is it. The X-Men film that nearly everyone I know seems to hate. This is X-Men: The Last Stand.
X-Men: The Last Stand was released on May 26, 2006 and grossed about $459 million worldwide. Wonder how much that is in whatever currency you use? Well, the math is all yours to do. It was the seventh-highest grossing film of 2006 and the highest grossing film in the X-Men film series. This movie had so much going for it, and yet, it still managed to suck for so many people. People liked the acting and the action scenes, which was good, but most criticism was directed at the screenplay and overall style. Hm.
The casting definitely wasn’t a problem. We have a new Shadowcat (Ellen Page), and some of the mutants who only made brief appearances in the last movie now have bigger and more developed roles. Not a ton of new cast additions, except for Callisto (Dania Ramirez), Psylocke (Meiling Melançon), Arclight (Omahyra Mota) Kid Omega (Ken Leung), Leech (Cameron Bright), Angel (Ben Foster), Multiple Man (Eric Dane), the Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) and Beast (Kelsey Grammer).
Before our movie even starts, we already have a problem.
That’s right. Our movie hasn’t even started yet, and we already have a problem. What is it? The director. Yeah. Bryan Singer actually decided to leave X-Men so he could work on Superman Returns, since he didn’t even define the storyline for a third film. I guess he didn’t think the franchise would end up being so popular. Um…okay. Anyway, Matthew Vaughn (the same guy who would direct X-Men: First Class five years later) was initially hired as the new director, but he left due to personal and professional issues. So, who did they get to replace Matthew Vaughn?
Brett Ratner.
OK, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean Brett Ratner has directed some decent movies like the Rush Hour movies, Red Dragon, and more recently, Tower Heist. They weren’t good or bad movies, they were just decent. Well, Rush Hour was actually pretty good. I liked it a lot. But that’s just my opinion. Ratner isn’t Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick or insert-other-practically-legendary-director-here. He’s still a decent director, though. So where did he go wrong with X-Men: The Last Stand? Well, let’s take a look.
Our movie opens up with a flashback that goes back twenty years and has…well, a couple of problems. What are they? Well, in order of appearance…
Brett Ratner.
OK, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean Brett Ratner has directed some decent movies like the Rush Hour movies, Red Dragon, and more recently, Tower Heist. They weren’t good or bad movies, they were just decent. Well, Rush Hour was actually pretty good. I liked it a lot. But that’s just my opinion. Ratner isn’t Steven Spielberg or Stanley Kubrick or insert-other-practically-legendary-director-here. He’s still a decent director, though. So where did he go wrong with X-Men: The Last Stand? Well, let’s take a look.
Our movie opens up with a flashback that goes back twenty years and has…well, a couple of problems. What are they? Well, in order of appearance…
- Prof. X and Magneto are friends for some reason, even though First Class clearly shows that the two parted ways in 1962 after the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Prof. X can walk (again, another continuity issue)
Ten years after that flashback (not yet in the present), we see Warren Worthington II (Michael Murphy) trying to get his son to come out of the bathroom in a very...forceful manner. Look, I'm not a parent, social worker, or anything like that. But yelling at someone and saying that they've been in the bathroom for over an hour is...well...we're not going to go there. What if his son was sick or something?
Anyway, after his son, Warren Worthington III (Cameron Bright), tells his dad he'll be out in a second, his dad gets fed up and opens the door. Invasion of privacy. Clearly, this dad gets parent of the year (sarcasm). He then sees that his son is a mutant with angel wings (see what I did there?) and becomes determined to find a cure for mutation to turn mutants into people without powers.
In the present day, when Worthington II finally created a cure, guess who his first test subject was? It wasn't a genetically mutated rat or guinea pig! It was...his son. Yeah. Clearly, Warren Worthington II gets father of the year (sarcasm). Luckily enough, Warren Worthington II (who is now codenamed Angel because of his wings) manages to escape because he didn't want to take it. That's the last we see of Angel for a while.
How was this cure created? Well...through the power of a mutant named Jimmy, who lives at Worthington Labs on...Alcatraz. Because if you want to cure mutations, use the power of another mutant! That's not hypocritical at all!
Also, who puts a lab on Alcatraz of all places? You might as well just put a neon sign up that says 'mutants being experimented on here.' It's like Batman and Robin (ugh, I can't believe I brought that up), where Mr. Freeze decided to keep his wife hidden in a NEON LIT ICE CREAM PARLOR. I just don't get it. It's so blatantly obvious. As for who puts a lab on Alcatraz? Brett Ratner, that's who.
At the discovery of the cure, mutant-kind divides itself. Some mutants, like Rogue, are interested in the cure. Others are horrified by the announcement, and Magneto decides to reform the Brotherhood of Mutants and adds more mutants who oppose the cure to it.
Now, what I'm about to continue with is only going to make sense if you've seen X2: X-Men United. If not, then go watch it.
We later learn that not only did the people making this movie decide to kill off Cyclops, they also decided to pull the ultimate tease and show us that Jean Grey is actually alive! It's like Lord of the Rings. No one actually stays dead. Okay, except for Boromir (Sean Bean), and that's only because Sean Bean's characters are killed off in nearly everything he's in. We later learn that Jean has a sort of split personality that called itself the Phoenix that the professor was keeping dormant with a series of psychic barriers that broke when Jean "sacrificed" herself in X2. It's later learned that the person in front of them is not really Jean Grey, but it is, in fact, the Phoenix.
And after that...everything just gets worse.
So...my opinion of this movie?
OUT OF 10: 6.5 OUT OF 10
Why: This movie wasn't all bad. It just wasn't all good, either. I can understand why people hate it so much. There are tons of continuity problems that were created when First Class came out, and that little bit at the end of the credits wasn't exactly a fun bit, either, because it pulled another tease. It's a guilty pleasure for myself, and while others might hate it, I actually kind of like it. Days of Future Past was meant to be the movie that kind of erased everything that happened in this one and just rewrote it. But we can't just ignore the stuff that happened in it.
One scene that I REALLY liked was this scene where Magneto moved the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz Island. After I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and that scene in it where they twist the bridge around, I was reminded of The Last Stand. It was definitely pretty cool.
Well, guys, we're finally nearing the end. All we have left is the best X-Men movie out there, Days of Future Past. And do I have a lot to say about that one. For now, I'm curious to hear your opinions of this movie. Feel free to leave a comment telling me if you liked it, hated it, or if you were just neutral about it and why. I'd love to hear (read?) your opinions!
In the meantime, look forward to a review of Days of Future Past! This one might actually end up being a video AND a post!
Signing off for now! ~k
kanna here, again. Yay! Welcome to part 3 of 5 of my X-Men review series!
Hard to believe we've already gone through two of the films, we have Days of Future Past in theaters, and X-Men: Apocalypse set for a release date in the States of May 27, 2016. And there are apparently going to be even more movies, because some of the actors from Days of Future Past have signed on for FOUR MORE MOVIES. Holy frick.
By the way, I saw Days of Future Past about a week or so before writing this. It was FREAKING AWESOME. I HAVE TO SEE IT AGAIN!
Anyway, let's move onto one of the more popular films of the X-Men film franchise, X2: X-Men United.
X2: X-Men United was one of the more popular films of the X-Men film franchise. It even ranked #2 on the X-Men Movies by Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes before Days of Future Past came out. Now it's at #3, but who cares? It's still a pretty high rating! This movie was even more popular than it's predecessor! It's a little rare for a sequel to be more popular than its predecessors (not saying that it hasn't happened, just saying that I haven't seen it happen that much).
Anyway, we have some new cast members joining us for this movie (and only this movie, unfortunately; don't expect them to appear anywhere else). Those cast members are Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Kelly Hu, and Michael Reid McKay. We have our headliners, and we have Anna Paquin playing a slightly bigger part in this movie. There are a few new additions towards the end, but we'll get to those later. It's not that they're not important (they are), but this is a topic that can be talked about later on in the review.
Let's get started!
Like the previous film, our movie opens up with a classic Patrick Stewart narration. Seriously, if the guy wasn't an actor, he could have been a motivational speaker or something. These narrations are just epic. However, unlike the previous film, the narration is different. Believe it or not, I actually like this narration more than the last film's. I can't really explain why. Anywho, here it is:
"Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence, they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain? Or simply a new species of humanity, fighting for their share in the world? Either way, one fact has been historically proven: Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute..."
Seriously. Patrick Stewart could have been a motivational speaker or something if he wasn't an actor. Listen to his speeches in Star Trek: The Next Generation or wherever else he has some kind of monologue/speech. It's epic.
We then meet our first new mutant of the movie, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming). Don't get too used to him, guys. He's only going to be in this movie. And, yeah, I know. It sucks. Anyway, we meet Nightcrawler as he attempts to assassinate the President of the United States, President McKenna (Cotter Smith).
Um...who? I don't think there was a President McKenna in U.S. history. Then again, this is a work of fiction, so we can't expect the film to have 100% historical accuracy. And, yes, I actually triple-checked before writing this. There has never been a President of the United States with the last name McKenna.
Why am I saying all of this? Well, most of the X-Men movies have tied their story lines to actual historical events. First Class revolved around the Cuban Missile Crisis (and featured actual television footage from when John F. Kennedy appeared on TV and gave his big speech about it), Erik/Magneto was a holocaust survivor, Wolverine fought in a bunch of wars (including the Vietnam War), and Days of Future Past has an actor playing Richard Nixon and has Magneto in prison in the freaking Pentagon for John F. Kennedy's assassination. It's a surprise to see this movie not tied to a historical event. That's all. Not a good thing, but not a bad thing, either. Just something I thought worth mentioning.
Moving on.
It turns out that Nightcrawler has actually been brainwashed by a man named William Stryker. I mean, Col. William Stryker (Brian Cox). This guy is a human military scientist who has experimented on mutants in the past, including Wolverine (who is trying to get answers about his past). Stryker is also our villain for the movie. Why? Oh, only because he wants to combine Charles Xavier's telepathic abilities and Cerebro to wipe out every single mutant on the FREAKING PLANET.
Right...moving on again.
After an attempted assassination of President McKenna, Nightcrawler leaves a note demanding "mutant freedom" and flees. We then cut to the students of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters at a science museum in New York. Storm, Jean, and Cyclops are taking groups of students around the museum and discussing how history has ties to mutants.
However, towards the end of the trip, Storm notices that there are three students missing: Rogue, Bobby/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and John/Pyro (Aaron Stanford). Some teenagers are harassing them about their powers, and when Pyro tries to show off, every single person (save for the mutants) in the museum freezes exactly where they are. Prof. X tells them not to show off. Guess he's not one for showing mutations off in public.
Wolverine comes back to the school from Alkali Lake, a place in Alberta, Canada, where he thought there would be answers about his past. Turns out that he got his metal claws on there through an experiment done by Stryker. Storm and Jean are sent to find Nightcrawler, while Prof. X is accompanied by Cyclops to go and see Magneto, who is being held in a plastic prison.
Xavier tries to get answers from Magneto about the attempted assassination of the president, because he thought it was Magneto's fault. However, there are more pressing matters at hand. Turns out that Stryker was extracting information on the school and mutants in general from Magneto. Stryker and his assistant, Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) kidnap Cyclops and Prof. X before raiding the school, where all ___ breaks loose. Wolverine manages to kill some of Stryker's men and he escapes with Rogue, Bobby, and Pyro.
This film was FREAKING AMAZING. It was emotional, there were funny moments, there was good writing, and we even got to see Nightcrawler. FREAKING NIGHTCRAWLER! He's a fairly popular mutant in the X-Men franchise. Almost as popular as Wolverine and Gambit. As to whether or not Nightcrawler will be appearing in Apocalypse; I have no idea. They're probably going to get a different actor to play him if he is in Apocalypse, though. That actually sucks, because Alan Cumming is AWESOME. But given that it's been a few years since this film was released and he's forty-nine now--making him fifty-one when Apocalypse is released--he might feel too old to do some of the things he did in X2 for Apocalypse. Well, writers, if you can't give the guy an action scene, at least give him A SCENE. I don't think that's asking too much.
So...let's rate the film!
DRUM ROLL
Rating: 10 OUT OF 10
This was THE BEST X-Men film out of the main three films. It had good direction, good acting, and a fantastic script. Nothing less from BRYAN SINGER. The film isn't flawless (what film is), but it's still THE BEST. There weren't really any loose ends from the last movie to tie up, other than the bit about Wolverine's past.
We still don't really get a ton about that in this movie, other than the fact that Stryker experimented on him and that that was how he got his claws. It's more developed in that other movie that no one really likes to talk about, Origins: Wolverine. But, since that movie was downright awful (even Hugh Jackman hated it), I'll give you the short version in the form of bullet points.
Hard to believe we've already gone through two of the films, we have Days of Future Past in theaters, and X-Men: Apocalypse set for a release date in the States of May 27, 2016. And there are apparently going to be even more movies, because some of the actors from Days of Future Past have signed on for FOUR MORE MOVIES. Holy frick.
By the way, I saw Days of Future Past about a week or so before writing this. It was FREAKING AWESOME. I HAVE TO SEE IT AGAIN!
Anyway, let's move onto one of the more popular films of the X-Men film franchise, X2: X-Men United.
X2: X-Men United was one of the more popular films of the X-Men film franchise. It even ranked #2 on the X-Men Movies by Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes before Days of Future Past came out. Now it's at #3, but who cares? It's still a pretty high rating! This movie was even more popular than it's predecessor! It's a little rare for a sequel to be more popular than its predecessors (not saying that it hasn't happened, just saying that I haven't seen it happen that much).
Anyway, we have some new cast members joining us for this movie (and only this movie, unfortunately; don't expect them to appear anywhere else). Those cast members are Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Kelly Hu, and Michael Reid McKay. We have our headliners, and we have Anna Paquin playing a slightly bigger part in this movie. There are a few new additions towards the end, but we'll get to those later. It's not that they're not important (they are), but this is a topic that can be talked about later on in the review.
Let's get started!
Like the previous film, our movie opens up with a classic Patrick Stewart narration. Seriously, if the guy wasn't an actor, he could have been a motivational speaker or something. These narrations are just epic. However, unlike the previous film, the narration is different. Believe it or not, I actually like this narration more than the last film's. I can't really explain why. Anywho, here it is:
"Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence, they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain? Or simply a new species of humanity, fighting for their share in the world? Either way, one fact has been historically proven: Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute..."
Seriously. Patrick Stewart could have been a motivational speaker or something if he wasn't an actor. Listen to his speeches in Star Trek: The Next Generation or wherever else he has some kind of monologue/speech. It's epic.
We then meet our first new mutant of the movie, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming). Don't get too used to him, guys. He's only going to be in this movie. And, yeah, I know. It sucks. Anyway, we meet Nightcrawler as he attempts to assassinate the President of the United States, President McKenna (Cotter Smith).
Um...who? I don't think there was a President McKenna in U.S. history. Then again, this is a work of fiction, so we can't expect the film to have 100% historical accuracy. And, yes, I actually triple-checked before writing this. There has never been a President of the United States with the last name McKenna.
Why am I saying all of this? Well, most of the X-Men movies have tied their story lines to actual historical events. First Class revolved around the Cuban Missile Crisis (and featured actual television footage from when John F. Kennedy appeared on TV and gave his big speech about it), Erik/Magneto was a holocaust survivor, Wolverine fought in a bunch of wars (including the Vietnam War), and Days of Future Past has an actor playing Richard Nixon and has Magneto in prison in the freaking Pentagon for John F. Kennedy's assassination. It's a surprise to see this movie not tied to a historical event. That's all. Not a good thing, but not a bad thing, either. Just something I thought worth mentioning.
Moving on.
It turns out that Nightcrawler has actually been brainwashed by a man named William Stryker. I mean, Col. William Stryker (Brian Cox). This guy is a human military scientist who has experimented on mutants in the past, including Wolverine (who is trying to get answers about his past). Stryker is also our villain for the movie. Why? Oh, only because he wants to combine Charles Xavier's telepathic abilities and Cerebro to wipe out every single mutant on the FREAKING PLANET.
Right...moving on again.
After an attempted assassination of President McKenna, Nightcrawler leaves a note demanding "mutant freedom" and flees. We then cut to the students of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters at a science museum in New York. Storm, Jean, and Cyclops are taking groups of students around the museum and discussing how history has ties to mutants.
However, towards the end of the trip, Storm notices that there are three students missing: Rogue, Bobby/Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and John/Pyro (Aaron Stanford). Some teenagers are harassing them about their powers, and when Pyro tries to show off, every single person (save for the mutants) in the museum freezes exactly where they are. Prof. X tells them not to show off. Guess he's not one for showing mutations off in public.
Wolverine comes back to the school from Alkali Lake, a place in Alberta, Canada, where he thought there would be answers about his past. Turns out that he got his metal claws on there through an experiment done by Stryker. Storm and Jean are sent to find Nightcrawler, while Prof. X is accompanied by Cyclops to go and see Magneto, who is being held in a plastic prison.
Xavier tries to get answers from Magneto about the attempted assassination of the president, because he thought it was Magneto's fault. However, there are more pressing matters at hand. Turns out that Stryker was extracting information on the school and mutants in general from Magneto. Stryker and his assistant, Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) kidnap Cyclops and Prof. X before raiding the school, where all ___ breaks loose. Wolverine manages to kill some of Stryker's men and he escapes with Rogue, Bobby, and Pyro.
This film was FREAKING AMAZING. It was emotional, there were funny moments, there was good writing, and we even got to see Nightcrawler. FREAKING NIGHTCRAWLER! He's a fairly popular mutant in the X-Men franchise. Almost as popular as Wolverine and Gambit. As to whether or not Nightcrawler will be appearing in Apocalypse; I have no idea. They're probably going to get a different actor to play him if he is in Apocalypse, though. That actually sucks, because Alan Cumming is AWESOME. But given that it's been a few years since this film was released and he's forty-nine now--making him fifty-one when Apocalypse is released--he might feel too old to do some of the things he did in X2 for Apocalypse. Well, writers, if you can't give the guy an action scene, at least give him A SCENE. I don't think that's asking too much.
So...let's rate the film!
DRUM ROLL
Rating: 10 OUT OF 10
This was THE BEST X-Men film out of the main three films. It had good direction, good acting, and a fantastic script. Nothing less from BRYAN SINGER. The film isn't flawless (what film is), but it's still THE BEST. There weren't really any loose ends from the last movie to tie up, other than the bit about Wolverine's past.
We still don't really get a ton about that in this movie, other than the fact that Stryker experimented on him and that that was how he got his claws. It's more developed in that other movie that no one really likes to talk about, Origins: Wolverine. But, since that movie was downright awful (even Hugh Jackman hated it), I'll give you the short version in the form of bullet points.
- Wolverine was born in insert-some-time-in-the-1800s-here as James Howlett in Alberta, Canada
- He already had the claws as a child, only they were made out of bone and not adamantium
- Stryker was the one who gave him the adamantium claws, as well as an entire skeleton made out of the stuff
There were A HUGE amount of references to the comics, and a few cameos, as well. There's one scene in the movie where Mystique is going through files on Stryker's computer, and there are so many files on so many mutants and places and events from the comic books, it would take a whole other review to name them all. So I'll just give you these to sum up all the cameos and comic book references:
Part 1/2
Part 2/2
Now, if you remember, I mentioned something about a few new additions towards the end of the movie. There are a few new mutants introduced besides Nightcrawler. The key part of that sentence being "a few." Those mutants would be Shadowcat (Katie Stuart), Artie (Bryce Hodgson), Jubilee (Kea Wong), Siryn (Shauna Kain), Danielle Moonstar (no idea), Douglas Ramsey (Layke Anderson), and Colossus (Daniel Cudmore). Yeah, don't get used to some of these guys. Specifically, Shadowcat, Artie, Jubilee, Siryn, Danielle Moonstar, and Douglas Ramsey.
Well, some of that isn't entirely true. Shadowcat does get a more developed role in The Last Stand, as well as a new actress, Ellen Page, who reprises the role for Days of Future Past. Not sure why that was, but I'm not complaining. Colossus also returned for The Last Stand, but Daniel Cudmore got to stay and play Colossus in a slightly more developed role. Daniel Cudmore also returned for Days of Future Past. As for everyone else, this is all you're going to see of them. What's weird is that Jubilee's scene isn't even in the actual film. You have to watch the deleted scenes to see her.
Like I said, out of the main three X-Men movies, this one is THE BEST. It's rare for a sequel to be more popular than its predecessor. If you haven't seen this movie, SEE IT. It's just amazing.
Well, we're almost done, guys. Just two more movies. I know I said I'd do this in order of continuity to the best of my ability, but given that I saw Days of Future Past fairly recently, I'm going to do that one last. I actually like that the order is working out like this, because Days of Future Past practically--
I'm saying too much! If you haven't seen Days of Future Past yet, see it. And if you have seen it, see it again. Stay after the credits, because there's a nice little teaser for the next movie, Apocalypse. It's a bit of a wait for that teaser, but it's totally worth it (I kinda-sorta made my friends stay after the credits when we went to see the movie). If you're wondering what it is that they're saying in that scene or are just confused as to what's going on in that scene, leave a comment or something and I'll reply. Why am I not doing that here in this post? Because I'm not going to give it away for the people who haven't seen it. I'm nice like that.
Anyway, we're almost done. Two more movies. I'm actually looking forward to doing my review for The Last Stand. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Let's just hope I don't mention Star Trek: The Next Generation anywhere in the review.
Before I sign off, I wanted to say I'm going to
take a break before I do my reviews for The Last Stand and Days
of Future Past. Why? Well, there's a certain show I've been meaning to
review for a while, but wasn't quite sure about how to write a good review for
it. Then I heard that a show I used to watch was going to have its final
season, and I thought it would be a good idea to compare and contrast the two.
So, get ready for the ultimate supernatural TV-series competition: Being
Human (US) vs. True Blood. Who do you think is going to win? I
think Being Human, but that's just my opinion.
All right, now I'm signing off! I'll see you guys soon! ~kanna
